Yaks in Alto Adige

If you can't get to Nepal this year, then consider a trekking holiday in Trentino Alto Adige.

Legendary climber Reinhold 'Mount Everest the hard way without oxygen bottles and back up support' Messner is proposing a short break in the highest village of the Regione Vacanza Ortles.

Called Solda, it is located at 1900 meters above sea level just below one of Europe's last remaining glaciers.

It is here Messner has created a unique museum called, fittingly enough, 'Alla fine del mondo' or 'At the end of World'.

The idea is to deepen our interest in just the sort of things most of us look for in a summer holiday: ice, cold, darkness, snow, polar exploration and even white lions.

The museum is housed underground and is a homage to skiing, ice climbing and polar exploration.

There is also a restaurant called 'Yak e Yeti'.

Inside an old 'maso' which dates from the 1600's, the restaurant serves up local south Tyrol specialities, but also a dish called "Momo", typical of the Himalayas.

Also from the Himalayas are a number of real Yaks.

And in late June it is possible to accompany the beasts on a seasonal meander up the mountains from the cable car station of Solda to a place called Madriccio where they will graze during the summer.

The whole initiative is pure genius and only a mad man like Messner could have dreamt it up.

We will be doing this.

www.ortler.it

Russian Pasta Artist

The 'art of home made pasta' often features in the pages of many websites proposing Italy cooking holidays and cooking lessons.

Not least in our www.deliciousitaly.com. But here's a pasta artist with a difference.

His name is Serghei Pakhomoff, a Russian, who creates objects and toys from humble pasta found in ordinary supermarkets.

Now, there are many novelty pasta shapes available as gift items in Italy. We won'y go into details, but Serghei's work takes this to another level.

He tells us he considers Italy the culinary art capital of the world and has sent us a number of images of his work.

Serghei has also been commissioned for exhibitions, fairs and other events in Italy and abroad.

Sparkling wine in a square bottle

Vinitaly in April 2009 saw the official presentation of the most valuable wine bottle of the moment.

Gold painted and square, the label reads Otello Dry² and is the first sparkling wine in a square bottle,

The result is a partnership between Cantine Ceci of Parma and Rosato jewels (Mariella Burani Fashion Group) for the 43° edition of the most important Italian wine kermesse.

Otello Dry² is a sparkling wine Blanc de Noir obtained from three fermentations in three different moments.

It is moderately aromatic with a palate of fruit and honey flavour gently spiced, a fresh and soft taste, that gives a fullness and roundness sensation at the end.

The idea of the first square spumante bottle was inspired by Plutarco and the perfection of a square.

Now, square bubbles, that would be feat.

The Apenines or Appennines

The tragic earthquake on Abruzzo is still in the news.

And will remain on the front page for at least the next town months.

Not least because the planned G8 summit in La Maddalena Archipelago in north Sardinia in June is now being transferred to L'Aquila.

They are obviously not happy in Sardinia in a difficult economic year, but the decision seems to have been taken.

The good news is that it will give the international media another chance to practice their pronounciation of the regional capital of Abruzzo.

Or is that pronunciation?

Even CNN got it hopelessly wrong for a while by calling it L'Aguila with a G on their screen graphics.

But at least we can forgive them all for any eventual misspellings of the Apenines?

Or is it Apennines?

Many organic search engine tip gurus suggest online content managers mispell (sic) a range of some widely used keywords to benefit 'form typings erors'.

Goggle instead or Google etc or Delicious Italy instead of Conde Nast Italy Traveller, or Traveler.

The one guaranteed to come out wrong(ly) every time is, in Italian, Appennini, the central mountains of the Italian peninsular.

Wikipedia spells it Apennines, while others spell it Apeninnes, the later 100% incorrect.

A travel journal published in 1835 in the New York Mirror is titled 'to the Apenines'.

So what's the correct version?

The Oxford English Dictionary says 'Apennines' but it also says Piedmont.

We like and use Appennines after the Italian original, rightly or wrongly.

www.panoramio.com/photo/165631

Too Much Tuscan Wine

Too Much Tuscan Wine completes a trilogy of books by Dario Castagno.

The first, Too Much Tuscan Sun, was a light-hearted look back at the region from a happy vantage point.

The second, A Day In Tuscany, emerged from the melancholy of having been left by a companion Dario loved dearly.

Too Much Tuscan Wine now brings about a rebirth, both of spirit and the authors connection to and love for Chianti, the theme uniting all three.

The latest book is self-published in a limited and for the moment is only available from Italy.

Dario will personally sign every copy purchased and the link to purchase Too Much Tuscan Wine can be found from his newly redesigned website, DarioCastagno.com.

You will also find a preview of the book's opening chapter via a link to his blog.

At his you can also learn about the August 2008 Palio victory of his beloved Noble Contrada of Bruco (Caterpillar). It was an amazing, unexpected win, and he got to participate in the historic parade.

Fine Wines in Palermo

The most important wine fair of the year, Vinitaly, has just finished in Turin.

An obligatory appointment for all wine fans and producers, but they may have a new rival on the block.

Its called 'Avvinando' and is taking place from the 10-11 May 2009, in Palermo, Sicily.

Over 60 wine producers and 450 labels will be there, at what is described as the 'professional fair dedicated to wines, spumanti and quality gastronomy.

The third edition is being held in Villa Boscogrande.

The objective is to create an important wine event in south Italy to rival those in other parts of the country.

The difference is that 'Avvinando' is aimed specifically at the business of wine: restaurants, hotels, enoteche, experts etc.

The regions present: Lombardia, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Toscana, Umbria, Campania e Puglia.

The most notable names: Tasca d'Almerita, Antinori, Banfi, Allegrini, Felluga, Mastroberardino, Guido Berlucchi, Planeta, Donnafugata, Bellavista e Firriato.

The event is organised by 'Associazione Culturale Elitaria' with the support of the Comune & Provincia di Palermo and the Istituto Regionale della Vite e del Vino among others.

'Avviando' will also a magazine dedicated to 'enogastronomia di qualità' for the duration of the event.

To get one of the 15,000 copies, seek out the accommodation, food shops and similar locations joining in with the event.

www.avvinando.it

World's Best Statue

What is the world's best statue?

Has to be something from the Italian Renaissance, some thing by Michelangelo, David?

So perfect that on our recent trip to Carrara we were told that an extremely rich American citizen has created an exact copy with the same marble used for the original.

Trouble is he might have copied the wrong one.

For those in the know the world's best statue, or statues, are the Bronzes from Riace in Calabria.

A wonderful BBC television program coincided with our return from Carrara and built a convincing argument.

Firstly, the Greek world represented their Gods in human form. The ancient Egyptians didn't.

But the Egyptians knew how to work stone on a massive scale. The Greeks applied the techniques and created life sized human forms. Eventually perfectly.

Too perfectly in fact and they strove for an even more human representation.

They managed it by exaggerating slightly the human body and pose to render it more dynamic.

Art was never the same and we've been exaggerating the human form for our own visual please ever since, including Michelangelo.

So get yourself to the National Museum of Reggio Calabria and see the Riace Bronzes close up.